It’s Time to Engage!

It’s Time to Engage!

As we have closed out 2017 and welcome 2018, we have an occasion of looking at the many past and future activities by the Board of the American Academy of Audiology. Some of our highlights for 2017 include a much-needed revamping and ultimate improvement in the responsiveness and accuracy of communication in our volunteer structure within and outside of the Academy.

In essence, the Academy Board has created a new layer in the Academy structure with six councils that are chaired by engaged leaders in our field. Each council has a distinct focus, and committees with similar emphasis are represented by their chairs on the council. For example, Outreach Council is led by a chair and also is composed of a chair-elect, a past chair, two Academy Board Liaisons, one representative of the Student Academy of Audiology, and the chairs from each committee that falls under the council: Public Awareness Committee; Communications Committee; PR Committee; Industry/Supplier Relations Committee; and Health Care Relations Committee. The composition of this council offers the potential of great synergy and partnering in similar projects.

It’s difficult NOT to become enthused about limitless opportunities in advancing, promoting, and advocating about audiology to multiple venues. If that weren’t exciting enough, imagine having recently partnered in March 2017 with Bendure Communications; a respected and successful public relations company. Our website includes a relevant toolkit (Customizable Press Releases; Public Relations Toolkit[2]) or even a guide for speaking with the media. You will find Press Coverage for Audiology[3] that has reached national and state news agencies; all thanks to Bendure Communication guidance and direction.

As mentioned, there are five other equally relevant councils: Leadership; Academic and Professional Standards; Professional Development; Scientific Advisory and Research; and Advocacy. Just like the Outreach Council, the other five councils have similar compositions and limitless opportunities. All of the councils are charged to advance the activities that transcend specific committees; execute strategic direction of the Academy Board; regularly report to the Academy Board; assign and monitor activities of their committees, and ensure committee outcomes are achieved on a timely basis. As all of our councils become fully engaged, our successes will be limited only by our imagination.

In addition to the councils and committees within the volunteer structure, we have task forces to focus on important topics for the organization and the profession:

Not only will our communication abilities improve exponentially, but as the potential volunteer posts continue to increase, more of our members will be able to engage fully with the Academy as volunteers. Keep an eye out through 2018 and beyond for new volunteer opportunities on the Academy’s Volunteer Portal! As you can see, the American Academy of Audiology is entering into a whole new era of unexplored possibilities. We will go where no audiology organization has gone before. It’s time to ENGAGE!